This invention relates to a back shell for shielding a multi-contact electrical connector that has contacts adapted to be terminated to conductors of a shielded cable and to a cable strain relief means in said back shell.
There is disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,337,989 and 4,611,878, a shielding back shell for a multi-contact electrical connector. The back shell comprises two back shell members which can be latched together about the connector and the end portion of a shielded, multi-wire electrical cable which has been terminated to contacts of the connector. Each back shell member comprises a semi-cylindrical tail portion, the tail portions cooperating to enclose a bared length of the braid shield of the cable on said end portion thereof. Before the wires of the cable are connected to the contacts of the connector, a tubular ferrule is threaded onto the cable, since the ferrule is too small for the connector to be passed therethrough. When the back shell members have been latched together about the cable with the said tail portions thereof embracing the bared length of cable shield, the ferrule is slid along the cable and over the tail portions then crimped thereabout to provide a cable strain relief and to make permanent electrical connection between the back shell members and the cable braid shield. Nevertheless, the use of such a ferrule can cause problems where a wire of the cable has been misplaced or tests indicate that the assembly so produced needs to be reworked, since any repair that requires the back shell to be reopened also requires the ferrule to be stripped and the connector to be completely re-terminated so that a new ferrule can be threaded onto the cable. Further, the ferrule can be incorrectly located for the crimping operation.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,842,547 discloses the use of a generally U-shaped staple having barbed legs, as a cable strain relief means for securing the end portion of a braid shielded electrical cable to the plastic housing of an electrical connector to which the cable has been terminated. The staple is inserted over the cable end portion, the shielding of which has been bared so that the barbed legs of the staple gouge in recesses in the plastic housing. Plastic material can of course "creep" under sustained pressure.